


Lock Down

by TVgirll1971



Category: Whiskey Cavalier (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26600698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVgirll1971/pseuds/TVgirll1971
Summary: The team, sans Standish, is gathered at the Dead Drop ready to celebrate SHEP when someone takes control of Jai's security system and locks the team in the bar. Making the situation more dire is the fact that Ray has collapsed.
Relationships: Ray Prince/Susan Sampson
Kudos: 4





	Lock Down

**Author's Note:**

> Story set in Season 3

"Raymond Douglas Prince!" Susan scolded. "What the hell are you doing? Standish hasn't even gotten here yet." 

"What?" he said with his mouth full. "There's all kind of food here.” He popped another deviled egg in his mouth. “This caterer I got is great.” Noticing the look Susan was giving him, he shrugged and added, “I'm hungry I didn’t have any lunch today."

Susan rolled her eyes. "I stand corrected. Standish is here--in the form of you."

Ray gave Susan a sarcastic smirk and then continued eating. 

“Okay, guys!” Will called out from the back. “How should we do this? I was thinking we put our gifts under the tree and then exchange them after we eat.”

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Frankie asked.

“It’s SHEP.” Will replied, as if it was obvious.

“But we’re going to be on a mission in Nairobi while the Hive is having their party, which means we’re going to miss it. So, why not just call it a loss? It’s not like it’s really Christmas anyway.”

“No.” Will stated with a frown on his face. “We’re not skipping SHEP. We can’t go to the official party; we’ll just celebrate on our own.” Seeing Jai enter the room, he added. “Jai? Am I right?”

Jai opened his mouth but before he had a chance to speak, the security blinds suddenly went down.

“Uh, Jai. What’s going on?” Susan looked with concern.

“I don’t know.” Jai said as he rushed to his laptop. After a few minutes of typing furiously, he announced that the system had gone into lockdown. “I can’t override.” he added. 

Frankie glanced at Ray who was staring down at the ground holding his stomach. "You okay, Ray?” she asked, she asked with concern.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think I just need to sit down.” Unfortunately, while trying to get to the nearest chair, he collapsed on the ground.

“RAY!” Susan yelled as she rushed over to him. Will and Frankie rushed over as well. “Ray.” Will prodded, slapping his face gently. “Come on, buddy. Wake up. Come on.” 

At the same time, Frankie had her cell phone out ready to call the ambulance. “Jai, I can’t get a signal.” she said with urgency.

“I know.” Jai said through gritted teeth. “Someone’s hacked into my system; put us on total lockdown.”

“Your lockdown includes us losing our signal?” Will asked, his voice raised.

“It’s a security measure in case we were compromised. It wasn’t about us not getting a signal out, it was about intruders not being able to.” After a tense moment he added. “The system’s completely locked me out.” 

“Guys, his pulse is getting weaker.” Susan said, regarding Ray.

"What about all the explosives you have down in the lair?" Will asked Jai. "Can't you just bomb us out of here?"

"If I wouldn't have made the shields essentially bomb-proof, yes. But as it stands, nothing I have available is going to get past those shields."

Frankie looked at Ray, the table of food, then Will. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Will nodded. “Jai,” he said, still looking at Frankie. “You think you can analyze the food? Specifically, what Ray ate?”

Jai turned around “Why would I do that?” Suddenly, he noticed Ray on the ground. “Oh. Right. I have a microscope in the lair. Maybe I can identify something.”

“Ollerman.” Will deduced. “He figured out about our little party and decided to take the whole team out. He just didn’t count on Standish being late and Ray starting without him.”

“But how did he know?” Frankie asked.

“Because he’s Ollerman!” Susan said, in frustration. “He probably arranged for our mission to coincide with SHEP. He knew Will wouldn’t pass up a chance to have a party of our own.” Suddenly, Ray seized up and began convulsing. 

“Oh, my God!” Susan yelled out. “Ray! Ray!” 

“I think he’s choking.” Will stated. “Hurry, let’s get him on his side.” Will then began hitting him on the back. “Come on, buddy. Come on. Get it out. Get the poison out! COME ON!” At that moment, to everyone’s shock, Ray vomited up blood.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ****** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

As Jai analyzed the food, Will and the ladies carried a lifeless Ray into the poolroom and laid him on the couch. After several minutes, Jai entered the room. 

“Ricin” he announced. “The food was laced with a synthesized, extremely potent form of ricin. Enough to kill all of us.” He then looked at Ray. “We have to get it out of his system immediately”

“How?” Susan asked. “We can’t even get out of here!”

Jai thought for a moment. “I have something. Wait a sec.” Jai walked out, then returned shaking a small bottle. He walked over to where Ray was laying and handed the bottle to Will. “Here you go—activated charcoal. It’ll absorb the poison.”

Will gave Jai a quizzical look. “You carry activated charcoal around with you?”

“We’re spies, Will.” Jai responded, as if it was obvious. “You never know when something will come up. Now, make sure he drinks the whole thing. I’m going into the lair to see if I can get us out of here.”

Will sat on the couch, lifted Ray up slightly and coaxed him to wake up. “Come on, Ray. Get up. We need to get this stuff out of your system. Come on, pal.” 

“Baby, please.” Susan said kneeling next to Ray. “You have to take this medicine.”

Ray shifted briefly and began to swallow the medicine. However, the taste caused him to grimace. “Come on, bud.” Will said. “I know it’s bad. You need to take it all.”

“Come on, baby. You can do it.” Susan added, rubbing Ray’s back.

Ray swallowed that the rest of the medicine, then promptly passed out again.

“Poison.” Frankie said, a thought occurring to her. “Do we know where that food came from?”

“A catering company advertised through the internet. Ray got some kind of e-mail alert.” Susan answered.

“How much do you want to bet that company is on Ollerman’s payroll?” Frankie asked Will. 

Later, when Frankie went to the lair to see how Jai was coming, Will tried to reassure a worried Susan who was trying to get Ray to drink some water.

"He's going to be okay." 

“You don't know that." she said coldly.

"No." he conceded. "But Susan, Ollerman's gone after Ray twice. Both times, he survived."

"And what if the third time's the charm?" she snapped. “I know what you’re trying to do but spare me your platitudes. I don’t need them.’

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

“Any luck?" Frankie asked Jai in the lair.

"No." Jai replied. Venting, he added. "This is what I get for being so paranoid. I build a system so impenetrable that even I can't crack it."

"You didn’t know anyone would be able to crack the system."

"Yes, I did! That's why I put in all those firewalls upon firewalls. What I didn’t count on was someone actually getting through all of them!”

"Here." Frankie said, placing a box in front of Jai. "I got your name." she elaborated.

"Tea?" Jai asked, after he’d opened the present.

"It's an assortment. Eight different flavors." Defensively, she added. "You know how hard it is to find a good gift for under $ 30?"

Jai smiled. "No. I love it. Thank you, Francesca."

“So, who did you get?” Frankie asked. 

“I actually got Standish this year. I bought him on those 3-in-1 charging hubs—the ones that use Wi Fi. I figure he could use some organization.” Suddenly, an idea came to him. “Wi FI. Of course! I’m an idiot!”

“What?”

“We may not have cellphone service,” Jai explained. “But we still have Wi Fi.” Turning to his laptop, he added. “I can use the Wi Fi to contact Standish.”

A little later, Frankie left Jai and found Will leaning against the bar staring at his phone.

“Will! Good news. Jai was able to call Standish.”

“How?” Will asked, confused.

Frankie shrugged. “He used the Wi Fi system. I don’t know how. It’s technical. Anyway, Standish knows the situation and is going to try to unlock the system from his end.”

“That’s great.” Will said in a rather subdued tone. 

Realizing something was on his mind, she inquired, “So, what were you thinking about when I walked in?” 

Will shook his head. "You don't want to hear me talk about my feelings."

"Of course, I do." she replied. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked.”

"I was just thinking. That time Ray was in the hospital--after Ollerman shot him--I never contacted his family. He was practically near death and I didn't even..."

"You couldn't." Frankie interrupted. "The Bureau wasn't ready to release the information about Ollerman yet. Your hands were tied."

"I could have still called. The truth is, I was glad that Casey wanted it hushed up because I didn't really want to deal with Ray's mother."

"Why? Is she that bad?"

Will gave her a look and shook his head. "No. She's great. I just--I was so angry at what Ray did. I just didn't want to deal with talking to his family. Especially not his mom. She's just so nice and to hear her worry--I wasn't in a place to handle that. Who does that?What kind of person is so petty that he doesn’t even call his friend’s mother when he’s been shot? Ray could've died in that hospital all alone because I was so vindictive."

"First off," Frankie began. "Ray wasn't alone. You were there. You told us yourself. You were at his bedside. The man betrayed you and yet you stayed with him to make sure he wasn't alone. That's a lot more than most people would've done so give yourself credit. As for why you didn't call his mother--well, the answer to that is, despite being a stand up guy, you’re also human. What Ray did to you was awful and you were allowed to be petty about it."

Will glanced at his phone. After seeing that they still had no signal, he sighed as he put it in his pocket. "I can't even call her now. I mean, I could in the lair, I guess,but, she couldn’t even come in here if she wanted to. She’d be out there in the street while her son’s in here dying.”

"Hey!" Frankie warned. "Don't. The people here don't need you giving up. You're the one they go to when they want to be told everything's going to be okay. You.re Mr. Optimist. If they want despair, they can come to me."

Will chuckled. "Thanks.” 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Meanwhile, Standish stood outside on the street with the EMT’s.

“Listen pal. You sure there’s people in there?” the head EMT asked Standish who was working on his laptop from inside his van. “The place looks like it’s all boarded up.”

Standish rolled his eyes. “I TOLD you—that’s their security system. It went haywire.”

“And you’re sure your buddies aren’t pulling your leg? Ricin poisoning? Really?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” his voice jumping a few octaves higher. Standish got out of the van and continued, his face dead serious. “Look. The people in that bar do NOT mess around. They say they’re in trouble; they’re in trouble.”

“Okay, but we can’t just wait and…”

“Yes, you can!” Standish insisted. “My friend is in there possibly dying because of some nasty ass poison. I’ll be damned if he’s going to die because YOU got tired of waiting! Now, I am this-close to breaking that encryption, if you aren’t behind me when I go in that bar—I SWEAR I will reign down holy hell on your bank accounts! You hear me??!!”

The EMT put his hands out. “Okay, I guess we can wait fifteen more minutes.”

Standish scoffed at that. “You 'll wait however long I tell you to wait. Now, sit down, shut up and let me do my thing!”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Having agreed to let Frankie sit with Ray for a while so she could have a small break, Susan meekly entered Will’s office and handed him a package. 

"Here." Susan sat as she laid it on his desk. "Ray had you for Secret Santa."

Will opened the package and gaped. "Oh my God. He remembered."

"What?" Susan asked.

"Well, you know how The Sandlot is the quintessential coming of age movie?"

"Okay." Susan said, dubiously. 

"Well, a while back, Ray asked to borrow a copy of my DVD--he wanted to show the movie to his nephew. Well, the copy got destroyed somehow. "

"And you made a big deal of it." Susan surmised.

"It's a classic. You don't just leave it lying..." Will noticed Susan's look and finished mid tirade. "Anyway, he must've remembered and got me the movie for SHEP."

Susan looked down sheepishly and said. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I know you were only trying to make me feel better."

"Don't worry about it." Will said, as he stood up and hugged her. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm worried too." Suddenly, his mood shifted. “Ooh, I almost forget. Wait right here.” He said as he got up and left. Soon, he returned and handed her a gift-wrapped box. “Here. I got you for Secret Santa.”

Susan unwrapped the gift and smiled when she took a white blouse out “A peasant blouse.”

“Yeah. I figured you could use it for your Barcelona party girl routine.”

Susan eyed the blouse appreciatively. “Thank you.” After a brief glance at Will, she added “Or as they say in Barcelona _muchas gracias_.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Later, Frankie saw Will sitting at the bar, staring at the locked doors.

“Jai’s going to get us out, Will.” She assured him. “He created the security system. If anyone can find a way out, it’s him. Especially now that Standish knows what’s going on.”

“This is all my fault.” Will declared, as he got up off the stool.. “I’m too predictable. Susan’s right. Ollerman knew I couldn’t handle missing out on SHEP. I should’ve left it alone. Christmas is coming up in three months, we should’ve called it a loss, just like you said.” He then abruptly left and walked to the pool room.

“Will, stop.” Frankie said as she followed him in. “Do you know what your most defining trait is? It’s that you’re a nice guy. Don’t apologize for that. And don’t let Ollerman make you feel guilty for it.”

Suddenly, they heard a soft voice from inside the room. "Can you guys keep it down a little? Some of us are trying to rest."

The pair looked over at Ray, his eyes half shut, a weak smile on his face and a relieved Susan sitting beside him.

Will and Frankie walked over to Ray. “Hey, pal.” Will said, with a pleased smile. “How you feeling?”

“Not great.” Ray admitted.

“Well, don’t worry. Will assured him. “Jai and Standish are doing everything they can to get us out of here.”

Ray nodded, shut his eyes and went back to sleep, with Susan stroking his hair.

Suddenly, the blinds went up and a welcoming voice bellowed from the bar “Will! Jai! Frankie! Where you at? Your knight in shining armor is in the house!” 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Hours later, Frankie opened her door to see Will standing there.

“Hey,” he said, greeting. “I was just at the hospital with Susan. Ray’s going to be okay.”

Frankie let out a sigh of relief as she let Will into her apartment. “That’s great. I know Jai was pretty worried.”

“Well, according to the doctor, if Jai hadn’t given Ray that activated charcoal, he’d likely be dead.”

Frankie smiled. “That’s the second time Jai saved Ray’s ass.”

Will handed Frankie a box. “Susan wanted me to give you this. She was your Secret Santa but with everything going on, she forgot.”

Frankie opened the gift and pulled out a light blue clutch purse.

“Susan saw it a little while ago and figured she’d give it to you as a gift. She thought maybe you could use it on one of our missions to carry your gun.”

Frankie smiled. “I like it.”

“Listen, Frankie, I want to thank you for the pep talks you gave me today. I know it’s not really your thing and I was pretty cynical..”

Frankie shrugged and said, “That’s what partners do. Pick up the slack when the other needs it. And I meant what I said. You’re a nice guy, you shouldn’t ever feel guilty for that.””

**Author's Note:**

> This lock down idea has been in my head forever. Also, with the holidays coming up soon, I really wanted to do another SHEP story, so I combined the two.
> 
> I did take some liberties with the poison--Ricin. It is nasty stuff when ingested. Extremely. However, it usually takes at least six hours for the person to get sick. I had to speed it up a lot for my story.
> 
> Will's talk about not calling Ray's mother after he'd been shot was a way to explain why Ray's family didn't visit him in the hospital like I said in my fic "Redemption". It was bugging me for while. 
> 
> Will's comment about The Sandlot was inspired by Inferno by FieryTribune where Will gushed to Standish about that movie.


End file.
